The Epic of Toontown Book 1: The Cog Nation
by FuryInternalis
Summary: When a group of Cog Resistance fighters stumble upon a letter during a C.E.O. gone wrong, it's up to them to stop the danger that lies ahead. Rated T just in case.
1. Before You Read

Hey guys.

This is my first story for this site.

Surprisingly enough, I started writing this when I was 12. Really. But at around Chapter 11, I got massive writer's block and I never had any motivation or ideas to finish this. Only recently when I got back into the game a month ago after a 2 year hiatus, did inspiration come to me on what to write and do.

I feel like the quality of the last 5 chapters is very low. I apologize for that. It was probably because I was rushing myself a little bit.

When I release the next book for the series, I WILL take my time and make sure that the chapters are in great quality.

But yeah. Here you go, finally.

:D


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

It all started on a cold, rainy day. The morning sunlight was not able to reveal itself out of the heavy rain clouds.

A loud crack of thunder. Melody was shaken from her bed, startled and in brief shock, her brain attempting to assess what had just happened. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock.

"I'M LATE!" she shrieked.

She scattered around her house to put on her clothes, get a supply of gags and some jellybeans. She fed her doodle, which happily gulped down a bowlful of jellybeans, before returning back to its pet bed by the lit fireplace. Before Melody could grab her coat, a sharp pain pierced her head. "Morning headache.." She groaned and put on her coat and flipped up the hood. Without a word, she locked her door, and began making her way to the Bossbot Headquarters.

"Hey Mel! What took you so long!" said Larry, a short orange cat.

"Overslept. Are we ready?"

"Looks like we have everyone. Let's get inside." said Kaitlyn.

The group got into the elevator. Melody herself, Larry, Kaitlyn, Robert, Tarren, and 3 other random toons that volunteered to join the fight. The elevator door closed, and it began rising floor by floor. Moments later, the elevator opened wide. But instead of the waiting 2 groups of cogs and being greeted by Good ol' Gil Giggles, everything was empty.

"WHAT NOW!?" shouted Melody, only to be greeted by another sharp pain in her head.

The group left the elevator, walking over to the large doors to the dining hall. The group managed to pull the door open, revealing the incredibly large room; empty.

"What in the...?" said Robert.

"I don't like this at all. I'm getting out of here!" said one of the extra group members.

"Yeah man, I'm coming with you.. This is creepy." replied another.

"TAKE-A-ME-WITH-YOU!" said the other, quite clumisly.

The 3 other toons teleported out.

"Those pansies.." she mumbled.

Robert facepalmed and walked over to a small table with an opened letter on it near the right side conveyor belt.

"Maybe that will tell us why the CEO and friends are missing. Go for it, Mel."

"Why do _I_ have to be the one to do stuff?" she whined back.

Melody picked up the envelope with the broken seal and began to read.

"FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIRMAN:

I request an urgent meeting with you all on 24 June at midnight precisely. The meeting place is the Cashbot's trainyard on the outskirts of Donald's Dreamland. There have been some new details on the mass invasion plans that you must hear. All the department heads will assemble in CN the next day. D.O. will be in attendance at these meetings.

SIGNED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD"

As she folded the letter up, everybodys' eyes were as wide as a canyon, and a crack of thunder erupted from outside.

"Oh.. no.." She dropped the letter and then fainted. Kaitlyn managed to catch her before she fell onto the cold metal floors.

"This changes everything.. Let's get her home. Quickly!" said Larry.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Plans and Letters**

Melody started to come to. She found herself in front of her house, being carried by her friends.

"Gah, it's locked. Where are her keys?" said Robert.

"Dunno, try her pockets." said Larry.

"Uuugghhh... Wha... What's going on..?" said Melody.

"Hey, she's coming to!" said Kaitlyn.

Melody slow stood up from Larry's arms, and trying to keep her balance; reached into her pocket to grab her keys to unlock the door.

"So what happened after I passed out?" she said, still slightly groggy.

"After you passed out, we decided to bring you back home so you could recover. The letter was from the Chairman and he requested to meet with the CEO and somebody codenamed D.O. to discuss a mass invasion." said Larry.

"When and where is he meeting him?" asked Melody.

"The letter says midnight at Cashbot HQ." said Robert.

Melody looked at her clock on the wall. "It's 10 o'clock now; if we leave right now, we can make it. Knowing the formality of the Cogs, I bet the CEO will be there early." said Melody.

"In that case, let's get going." said Tarren.

The group arrived at Cashbot HQ at about 11:45pm.

"Ok everyone, keep quiet. I don't know if they are near us when we go in or if they could hear us.." said Larry.

They crawled up the stairs quietly. Melody looked over and saw the CEO waiting infront of a drop-off zone for the hundreds of trains that pass through here daily. Strangely enough, the entire courtyard was deserted. No trains, and not a single cog in sight. Minutes passed, then finally, the sound of a train came echoing down the tunnel. It stopped with a large boxcar in front of the CEO. The CEO rolled back as the doors opened, and a ramp rolled out. Melody almost fainted again when she saw the Chairman.

"Melody! Don't pass out now, we need you!" whispered Tarren.

"Right.. Sorry." she replied.

She looked back over the stairs and saw a jet black rabbit walk out of the boxcar, hands elequently placed behind back and wearing a black suit with a blue tie.

"Oh dear. Please tell me thats just an advanced cog disguise?" whispered Kaitlyn.

"That's no disguise. He's the real deal.." said Melody.

"Hail, Chairman." said the CEO.

"No need for your fancy Bossbot greetings, CEO." said the rabbit.

"Are the invasion forces ready?" asked the Chairman.

"Yes, everything is going as planned. The toons still don't suspect a thing." said the CEO.

"When do you reccomend we invade?"

"The toons will surely get a warning if we take over by air. We must travel by land to the outskirts. Then, we will be close enough to take over their playgrounds by air, without them being warned soon enough for them to take an effective defense position. They always see that we are coming if we leave straight from the production plants." said the rabbit.

"Yes, yes. Your plan is good and true. But the army will be massive. Why not play with our enemies for a little bit and let them think they can defend themselves? They don't know how big it really is." said the Chairman.

"I like your idea, sir." The rabbit chuckled.

"We shall do that. But for now, I'm sure the CFO wouldn't mind if we borrow this place for now."

The Chairman pulled a radio off of his belt and called in some orders. Within minutes, multiple trains packed with Cogs arrived. They left the trains, and began patrolling. A few Big Wigs came flying towards the tunnel.

"RUN!" shouted Melody.

The group quickly made it out and headed for Toontown Central to warn Flippy of the impending danger.


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Meeting the Elders**

After their close encounter with the Chairman at Cashbot HQ, the group quickly made their way to Toontown Central.

"We have to tell Flippy!" huffed Melody.

At about 1:00 am they arrived at Toon Hall. They tried to open the door but it was locked. Larry knocked at the door furiously. Finally, somebody came up and opened a little slot on the door to see.

"What do you want!" said the angry person.

"We have to see Flippy, this is urgent!" said Melody.

"Girl, do you realize what time it is? It's ONE IN THE MORNING!" said the mysterious stranger.

"But it is important! Please!" begged Kaitlyn.

"NO!"

"Come on, man! This is SERIOUS!" said Tarren.

"NOBODY SEES THE WIZARD!"

The stranger slammed the hatch. A muffled voice could barely be heard. "What's going on with all the screaming and knocking? Who's there?" The hatch opened again and Flippy's face appeared.

"What do you want at this time of the morning?" said Flippy.

"We have urgent news! The Cogs are planning a massive invasion! We just witnessed the Chairman talking to the CEO about it at Cashbot HQ!" said Melody.

It took Flippy a moment to think the entire situation over.

"Come in."

Flippy guided them into his office where he jumped over his desk.

"Down here." he said.

A trapdoor that was covered by the rug opened up and Flippy climbed in. The group followed. After descending the ladder, there was a long, long hallway that lead to a large set of double doors.

"We've feared this day would come, and the elders have predicted 8 toons would save us. We are guessing you might be the final 5." said Flippy.

"Wow, life as the chosen ones. Sounds thrilling." Robert said sarcastically.

They reached the end of the large hallway. Flippy stepped foward and chanted some strange words.

"What did that accomplish?" said Tarren. A loud rumbling sound came from the cavern and doors began to screech open.

Flippy cast Tarren a glance and then they walked inside to a large circle room with pillars and a large circle with candles illuminating at each 45 degree. At the end of the room were 5 throne-like seats with an empty spot. Flippy took his seat in the middle of the 4 cloaked figures.

"These are the elders of Toontown. They are the ones that make the decisions, not me." said Flippy.

The 4 elders bowed in respect.

"These are the remaining chosen ones?" said the first elder.

"Yes they are Thanalok. Are the others present?" said Flippy.

"No, they are still at the encampment." said the first elder, identified as Thanalok.

"So what do we do now?" said Melody.

"Well, we could always wait here for the first 3 to return.." said Kaitlyn.

"NO! Get a good nights sleep and meet the other 3 to continue with your quest. They are located at a base not too far west of the Speedway." said the second Elder, frantically.

"How do we get there?" asked Melody.

"Here is a map. This will help you find the base. Be warned though, if you get lost in the Western Wasteland, you will never find your way out." said the third Elder.

"Thank you. We will go now." said Melody.

"WAIT!" shouted Flippy.

"What?"

"You were never here, and we never had this conversation." said Flippy.

"What conversation?" winked Melody, turning and walking out the doors.


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Elites & Enemies**

"Okay guys, this map says they are right outside of the small woods next to Goofy Speedway." said Melody.

"Great. So how exactly do we get all the way out there?" asked Robert.

"Simple, sneak past the barriers at the Speedway, make our way past the woods and find it."

"If you think it's that simple, lets get going then." said Larry.

The group proceeded to Goofy Speedway. As they hopped the fence, they got some suspicious looks from the toons waiting to race, and began running to the distant woods.

"ATTENTION!" shouted the Chairman.

"Would the heads of each division please present their new models!"

"Yes sir." said the VP.

"I would like to present the newest addition to the Sellbot production line, Bank Tellers."

Out walked a Bank Teller. Taller than a Mr. Hollywood, with a dim face and a buzz cut.

"Toons will stand no chance against him."

"I am impressed." the Chairman flatly stated. "CFO, what has your division produced?"

"Sir, allow me to present the newest addition to the Cashbot line, Vault Keepers."

Out walked a very large, muscle-suited, stern face, shaggy hair cog.

"I am pleased so far.. Chief Justice, what has your divison created?"

"Our division has created Rusty Judges."

A large, old-man-looking Cog came walking out of the elevator.

"Very good. Finally, CEO, what has the Bossbot division created?"

"Sir, we have created Job Employers. It may not be much of a name, but they are still be a force to be reckoned with."

Finally, the last cog, a suited man with a huge grin on his face walked out of the elevator.

"Good enough, CEO." said the Chairman.

"Dark Ozzie, what are your thoughts?"

"These are magnificent. Continue production of these new additions and prepare them for the invasion. If possible, make version 2's." said Ozzie. He stood up and left the meeting room.

"It is settled. Let us continue preparing for the invasion. Board dismissed." said the Chairman.

The group finally left the forest.

"Wow..."

What they were greeted by when they left the forest was nothing of what any of them expected. Giant, flat, sandy and charred ground, no trees, bushes, or anything living to be seen for miles. After the group finished soaking in what they saw, Tarren noticed something.

"There it is!"

He pointed over to a hut a little to the south of where they left the forest. The group walked over to the hut and knocked at the door. A tall, lightly armored toon opened the door.

"You must be the 5 chosen toons. Come in."

He lead them inside, where 2 other toons were sitting and playing cards.

"Rachel, Gabriel, show some respect! We have the 5 other chosen toons in our presence!" said the first toon.

"Calm down Earl. It's not that big of a deal." said Rachel.

"I'm Rachel, that's Gabriel, and that's Earl."

"Nice to meet you all." said Melody.

"Hope you guys brought your karts, we're not gonna be making any progress on foot." said Earl.

"What do you mean?" asked Mel.

"Do you know how far it is from here to Cog Nation? We would never make it on foot!" said Gabriel.

"He's right. Cog Nation isn't a simple stroll down the street like all the other Cog HQ's. The cogs didn't want any toons 'accidentally' walking into the place so they made it far across the Western Wasteland." said Rachel.

"I see. How long do you think it would take us to reach Cog Nation?" asked Larry.

"Couple hours. 8 if we're lucky. Could take longer. Nobody has been far enough to map Cog Nation or whatever lies in our path, so we're doing 2 jobs, pretty much." said Gabriel.

"We should leave now. The sooner we get there the better. Set your karts up outside, we will be out in a minute. AND LEAVE YOUR STUPID CARDS BEHIND!" said Earl.

Rachel chuckled, and the group walked outside and threw their karts onto the ground. A few minutes later, everybody was in and ready to go.

"Stay together! If we get seperated, there's no telling what could happen!" shouted Rachel over the roar of the 8 karts.

Everybody nodded. The group set off for Cog Nation.


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Close Calls**

The group continued to drive their karts across the burnt and sandy Western Wasteland. Melody could see distant lines coming closer to them from the northeast.

"What in the world..?" she thought.

They kept coming closer. Finally, she found out what it was.

"STOP!" she shouted. Everybody stopped.

"What is it Mel?" asked Earl.

"Do you see those things up ahead? Those have to be train tracks from Cashbot Hea-" she was cut off by the oncoming supersonic screeching coming from the 2nd track going westbound.

"LETS GET OUT OF HERE!" shouted Rachel.

Everybody jumped back in their karts and quickly tried to outrun the sound of the screeching train coming down the tracks.

"WHO'S SMART IDEA WAS IT TO DRIVE NEAR THE TRACKS!?" screamed Robert.

The train kept drawing closer, louder and louder. Larry started to drive southwest into a dried riverbed, motioning everybody to follow him. As they kept going southwest, the screeching faded. They stopped when it wasn't so loud.

"Phew... What WAS that!?" asked Robert.

"Cashbot HQ train. I nearly went deaf, my ears are still ringing!" said Kaitlyn.

"Oh great." said Melody. "Guys, we have some trouble..."

Melody pointed out to their west, where the ground turned suddenly pitch black like a river of tar, oil and more.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Tarren.

"Don't you see how large that river is?! We could never get across it, its just too big!" she said, depressed, slamming her head on her kart's horn.

"What about the train tracks? We could ride across on it." said Earl.

"Too dangerous, we dont know which way they go and for another thing, we could get captured. Besides, we couldn't outrun the last train." said Melody.

"But it's a risk we have to take, if we ever want to save Toontown."

"So how exactly do we do this?" said Gabriel.

Everyone paused to think for a moment.

"I think I know, since the train tracks themselves are too big to fit our karts, we roll them onto the middle of the tracks where the smaller metal parts are, ride across the river, get out and then go." said Kaitlyn.

"Good plan, but we don't know which way the trains go and when they go!" said Terran.

After some planning, they decided that they would take the track closest to them and none of the ones in, because if any train comes up from behind, they can move their karts off the tracks. But if any trains come from ahead, well, they save that for later.

"Everybody ready?" asked Melody.

Everybody nodded yes.

"Then lets go!"

They turned on their karts and sped across the river, the continuing sound of their tires bouncing off of the small gaps in between the metal bars that hold the tracks up. Once they reached the land again, they quickly pulled their karts off of the tracks. Everybody except Melody. The screeching started again, this time, coming from their destination.

"MELODY! GET YOUR KART OUT OF THERE!" screamed Rachel.

Melody kept trying to push and pull it, but it just wouldnt budge.

"LEAVE IT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" said Larry, screaming to be heard over the oncoming screeching.

Melody had a million thoughts race through her head in a single second, but she decided she would have to leave her precious kart. She quickly began to jump out of her kart. She dove off of the tracks right as the train hit her kart with a bang and speeded down the track like it never happened. The group quickly rushed over to Mel, who lay there unconcious, probably from the crash with the ground. Robert used some pixie dust on her.

"That will probably heal any damage to her laff. Anything else we will have to find out. Get her to a kart.."

They carried her to Earl's TUV, laying her on the passenger seat. They started off again, hoping that the rest of the trip would be smoother sailing.


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Battle On The Outskirts**

Melody's close call with the trains knocked her out when she collided with the ground after jumping out of her kart moments before the train smashed it. They couldn't stop again, for they had to make it to where they were going first, Cog Nation. But Larry couldn't stop worrying. What if this was too dangerous? What if they lost and failed? While he was over-thinking these things, he barely missed a large rock.

"Dozing off are you Larry? Not smart, especially with all these rocks around. And stay awake, we may need you." said Rachel.

"Not dozing off, daydreaming." he said, dodging another rock.

"Well, don't daydream too much, we're nearing the outskirts, there could be danger ahead." said Rachel.

A few minutes later, there was a small whirring sound that sounded like a cog flying in.

"Oh boy. Guys, we have company!" said Gabriel.

Everybody jumped out of their karts and readied their gags.

"Justice is Blind!" shouted the first cog to land, using glower power on Kaitlyn.

"Agh! These guys are strong!"

The second cog landed.

"The marketing department has decreased your value!" it shouted, throwing out a finger wag, but Rob was able to dodge it.

"Your bankrupcy is imminent." shouted the newest landed cog, using a Synergy attack on everybody taking off 35 laff.

"AHHH!" shouted Earl.

Tarren quickly tooned them up.

"Thanks Tare." said Larry.

He proceeded to pull out a foghorn, Kaitlyn, Earl and Robert followed.

Lights on orange.

There was a another whirring sound behind them. A maniacal laugh made them lose any confidence they had.

"HA HA HA! Stupid toons! You think that will get rid of us?" said the fourth cog.

"No, but this will!" screamed a familiar voice.

A toontanic fell on the three cogs in front of them, destroying them.

"Grrr... This isn't over!" said the fourth cog, beginning to fly off.

"NUH-UH-UH!" The voice threw out a wedding cake.

The cog exploded in mid-air.

"HEY, MELODY!" shouted Kaitlyn.

She collapsed to the ground, hands on her head, the pain from the day before returning.

"Aaahhh.. Owwww.." Melody groaned in pain. Everyone rushed to her side.

"You landed too hard on the ground after the second train encounter." said Kaitlyn.

"What were those things..?" asked Melody.

"We don't know yet. They're huge and extremely powerful. We HAVE to be careful." said Earl.

Suddenly, a beeping in each of the elite's pockets broke the brief silence. They quickly flipped the strange device open.

"Oh no."

"What?" asked Rob.

"Looks like those guys were new cog productions. Information from inside sources transferred to the Cog Research Lab say that the new cogs can reach level 16 and have up to 500 damage points. The Sellbots are Bank Tellers, Cashbots are Vault Guards, Lawbots are Rusty Judges, and Bossbots, which was the one that ran away, are Job Employers." said Rachel.

Everyone was struck silent.

"So.. what are those little devices anyways?" said Melody, breaking the silence.

"These are TMDA's. Toon Message Delivery Agents. Handy little things, they can send and recieve messages from anybody with them. And only a select few have those." said Gabriel.

Melody walked away from them for a moment. In the direction of their travel was an unusally large boulder. Melody found a way to climb up and looked over it. She stopped dead.

"Guys." Everybody walked over.

"Melody, what is it?" asked Rachel.

"Come see for yourself."

She pointed over the boulder. The rest of the group climbed up the rock.

"We're here."

The group stared in disbelief at the gigantic city that was not more than a mile ahead of them. Everybody gasped in awe at the same time.

"I can't believe we finally made it!" said Kaitlyn.

"It was a long journey here, but it will be an even longer journey in there, so don't think this means relaxing time." said Rachel.

"How will we get in there undetected?" said Larry.

The group looked out over the incredible metropolis in front of them.

"OOH OOH! There!"

Kaitlyn pointed out to a large gate with the symbols of each cog type on the front. Right next to each side of the gate was a guard tower. One of them was badly damaged with a few holes in the wall.

"We can sneak in through a hole in the wall of the tower and try our best to make it into the heart of the city!"

"Great plan, but what do we do once we get in there? Put on our best cog suits and try to blend in? Not a chance! Those cogs would be extremely smart and notice our toon heads instead of cog heads..." said Earl.

With that realization, everybody began brainstorming.

Ozzie walked into the central control room.

"Dark Ozzie, SIR!" said a Flunky.

"Anything new?" he said.

"Yes sir, 8 toons were spotted within a small distance of the outskirts. We dispatched one of the new productions from each plant to dispose of them." said the cog.

"WHAT? WERE THE TOONS DISPOSED OF!?"

"No sir, they were able to easily overpower the cogs."

"Good, if they were disposed of, the location of Cog Nation would have been revealed to the world, because they would just be send to the playground, where they would tell everyone."

Ozzie pondered for a moment. He grabbed a radio off his belt.

"DIVISION FOREMEN! Make those new productions STRONGER! WE MUST HAVE VICTORY!"

A reply came back right away. "Yes sir, right away!"

"And make a device on each of the new cogs that will KILL the toons instead of making them sad and sending them back home!" he shouted into the radio again.

The reply was uneasy; "Y..yes sir!"

"Are the toons still in the vicinity?" Ozzie asked.

"Unconfirmed, but likely, sir. We were able to record a tape from one of the cogs eyecams. You should take a look." said the Flunky.

Ozzie quickly grabbed the tape and put it in the player.

A color picture came up clearly displaying 7 toons and 7 karts, with another toon sitting in the passenger seat in one of the cars. For a moment, the toons looked like they were loosing. But 4 of them pulled out foghorns, hoping to get rid of the cogs. A cog from the side hit most of them for damage. Another cog landed behind them. In the background the toon in the kart's seat was getting up before pulling a button on them, saying some words.

"Pause."

The cog quickly paused it. Ozzie walked up to the screen and examined it closer. He gasped quietly and a million memories and ideas flooded his mind.

"Well well well, if it isn't my old friend, Melody."

He thought for a moment.

"Dispatch a Heligear with a 10 cog capture team. Take only the pink cat, do not harm any of them. It's time for a reunion.."


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Captured**

A large door opened on the top of a building near Central Control. Out flew what looked like a helicopter, but it was much faster, with a sleek design and advanced technology.

"Central Station, this is Heligear Beta Alpha 5601 on dispatch to a capture a classified fugitive ordered by Dark Ozzie, over." said the cog pilot.

"Roger, Heligear Beta Alpha, your mission is confirmed, clear to capture." was the reply.

The Heligear flew over the gloom of Cog Nation like a soaring bird.

"Heligear Beta Alpha, you are nearing destination, prepare to land and capture."

Melody could hear a loud whirring noise coming directly at them.

"Guys, I don't think we're done fighting yet!" she shouted, pointing at the large helicopter-like thing that was coming towards them.

"RUN!" shouted Larry.

Everyone ran for their lives to their karts, to get away from this place as fast as possible. Melody got in with Rachel and they drove off.

It was of no use.

The copter sped in front of Rachel and Melody and stopped them in their path. 10 cogs jumped out and walked straight toward Melody in the passenger seat.

"Help?! HELP!"

The group threw pies at the cog taking Melody, but other members of the capture team stepped up in the line of fire to keep their bounty safe.

"LET ME GO YOU BUCKET OF BOLTS!" she shouted, punting her kidnapper with her foot.

All the cog could do was cackle maniaccly.

"Central Station, this is Heligear Beta Alpha 5601, the toon has been captured, I repeat, the toon has been captured." said the pilot.

"Good work 5601, RTB."

"HELP!" screamed Melody, as the giant helicopter flew away.

"MELODY!" shouted Rachel.

Kaitlyn put a hand on her shoulder with tears in her eyes.

"She's gone.. All we can do now is to find out where she was taken."

The group was struck speechless. All they could do was think.

"Central Station, this is Heligear Beta Alpha, requesting permission to land." said the pilot.

"5601, permission granted."

With that, the hovering Heligear landed, and there was a large line of the new productions standing guard around it and down a long, red carpet leading to a door. Melody was hauled down the row and through the door, kicking and screaming the entire way.

"LET ME GO YOU BRUTES!" she shouted.

She was taken into what looked like a conference room and was thrown into a large seat at a long table; and the cogs left. A single dim light was focused on the chair with its back turned to Melody.

"It is good to see you alive and well.. After so long.. Melody." The chair turned around, and when she saw who it was, her body went cold.

"OZZIE!?"

"Thats right Melody. After 10 long years, my progress to become the toons greatest enemy has become a full-on success. After you left I swore I would have vengeance on all of the toons that exist." said Ozzie.

"Yeah, and apparently, I did it for a good reason! You were being drawn into the world of Cogs! You've gone mad! Plain mad!"

"Mad? HAH! I am perfectly sane! The 'perfect' life of a toon bored me. Nothing entertained me! My family never cared. They never will. I bet they don't even know where I am! They didn't love me either! The Cogs care about me though. The Cogs respect me. Do you think I'm going to leave this world and all my progress just to head back to a world I wouldn't be noticed in?!" said Ozzie, raging on.

"Ozzie, you're confused. You can't stay with this horrible world anymore! You have a family that does love you."

"Rubbish! Nobody ever loved me. Fear is what toons will see in me. After this invasion and my successing to COO or even possibly Chairman, every toon in the world will fear me! Get out of my sight, before I tell you too much. GUARDS!"

"Ozzie, wait, no!"

Two Bank Tellers walked in and dragged Melody through the large double doors at the end of the conference room.

"NO! LET ME GO!" she shouted.

Ozzie just got up from his chair, and walked away.


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Armen's Pride**

"ALRIGHT, we've been weeping for an hour. We can't get her back by sitting around crying over her! Melody is gone, but we will find her!" said Earl.

"Yeah, you're right.. We should get moving." said Kaitlyn.

"Hold it. We have a new plan." said Rachel, pulling out her TMDA and punching some things in.

A calm, female robotic voice was heard by the group.

"Location saved. Please wait."

Blocks formed around everyone towering up.

"What are you doing, Rachel?! Androme said not to use that! It hasn't recharged yet!" said Gabriel.

"Forget what Androme said! We're getting backup."

With that, the group faded.

"SIR! We lost them!" said a cog.

"You've got to be kidding me. Where did they go?" shouted Ozzie, in more rage than he was with Melody.

"They just... faded! One second they were detected by radar, the next, they were gone! Not even a teleport vortex was detected!"

Ozzie's face grew red with rage.

"YOU'RE FIRED!" he screamed.

A cannon rose, and the cog was shot out, into oblivion. Ozzie took the seat where the cog once was.

"All advanced units and patrols on high alert! Dispatch Heligears and search for those toons! NOW SOLDIERS, NOW!" he shouted into his radio. Alarms started going off, cogs scrambling everywhere. Ozzie was in pure rage. A dark, evil smirk crawled across his face.

The block vortex faded around them. Everyone felt queasy. Their heads were being pulled in every direction. Then, it all stopped. Everyone but the elites fell to their knees.

"We're here." said Rachel.

"Where in the name of Apocryphalis is HERE?!" said Larry, confused, and baffled at what just happened.

"50 years ago, before the cogs, a large group was created ready for any threat. Nobody knew it even existed. It was named Armen's Pride. Believe it or not, Armen is one of the elders you probably met, but he didn't talk to you." said Rachel.

"So let me get this straight. WE JUST TIME TRAVELED TO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLACE!?" said Robert, baffled.

"Pretty much, yes. Armen's Pride has been prepared for any danger to be called out on. This is our last hope."

Rachel proceeded to walk up to a large steel door and threw a strange series of knocks. The door opened promptly.

"Right this way, miss." said a guard, leading them to a large room, filled with machinery, and some toons in armor and some in robes. The guard welcomed them. Rachel thanked him and everyone followed her, proceeding up some stairs to a balcony, to a man wearing the best looking robes, watching over everything.

"Armen."

"Good to see you, Rachel."


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**The Army From Before**

_"Good to see you, Rachel."_

"And it's good to see you too. We have a problem. The future is under attack." said Rachel.

"Oh my. By who, or even what?" said Armen.

"Cogs. They are yet to be created, but even though we could destroy them in the past, it would never work, they would be created one way or another."

"Do they have a weakness?"

"Gags. They can't take a joke. In the future, there will be an incredible supply of them that we could use."

Armen thought for a moment.

"When do we leave, and who should we take?"

"As soon as we can, bring the Medics, Tanks, Knights and Initiates. We need everyone in the Pride, as far as you can contact."

"I will do my best. For now, you should go get some rest." said Armen.

"Thank you. We're counting on you."

She shook his hand and lead the group to the dorms.

"OKAY, I'm just creeped out." said Kaitlyn.

"How do you two know each other so well, and how did you get him to accept your requests?"

"Long story short, I travel back quite often. Earl and Gabriel come with me too." They nodded.

"So how long do we have to wait? Days? Months?" asked Tarren.

"A few days. A week at maximum. The Pride is moderately sized, but their hearts are strong and have determination like no other. They should be able to aid us." said Earl. Everyone sat silently.

"But, what if we loose? What if they aren't strong enough?" said Larry.

"Don't think like that, Larry. We all know the possibilites are endless, but we can only hope for the best, and fight for our lives." said Gabriel.

"It's been a long day.. We should get some rest." said Rachel.

"You're right. Goodnight everybody." said Larry. Everybody bid their goodnights and went to their new dorms.

Melody sat in the cold, metallic dungeon of Cog Nation. She sighed.

"Why did I have to be chosen to save Toontown with my friends? Why me?" she said to herself.

"QUIET IN THERE!" shouted the Rusty Judge guarding her cell.

The sound of the large door to the hallway opening filled the air.

"SIR!"

"At ease.."

Ozzie walked in front of Melody's cage and stared at her. She jumped up.

"What do you want from me!?" she growled.

"Your friends are gone."

"WHAT!" she shouted. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM?!"

"Now now, I didn't do anything. Nobody did. They just... vanished." He said, calmly.

"Where did they go?" she asked.

"Nobody has any idea. But, I'm going to use you to make them come back."

"You're not laying a hand on me."

"Oh, of course. Where my manners? JUDGE!"

The Rusty Judge walked into her cage and grabbed her.

"HEY!" she yelled in the cogs face.

"You are now under the custody of the Cog Nation, everything you do and say can, and will be used against you in the court of the honorable Chairman." said the lawbot.

"Yawn, Lawbots bore me."

The cog got angry.

"YOU-"

"STOP! Do not harm her." growled Ozzie.

The lawbot walked out of the dungeon, Ozzie following close.


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**The Breakthrough**

Tarren groaned.

"How long does it take for over 100 messengers to get everybody in a group ready?"

Rachel shook her head. "You do know that this simple 'group' has over 3,500 members, right?"

"No, but in the week it's taken, I would think they had everyone set up and ready to depart by now."

Tarren had been impatient the past week the group had been waiting. Rachel also got in arguments with Tarren quite frequently. But in the week they had been trapped inside, everybody was impatient and annoyed with each other.

"I'm gonna go get some air." said the annoyed Kaitlyn. She got up from the couch and walked outside.

Melody was being led down the hall by the Rusty Judge with Ozzie following close.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, barely moving eyes from the floor.

"I have my own little plan to bring your friends back. This invasion will NOT be stopped."

"Your mind is sick Ozzie. You are a toon yourself but yet you want to destroy the race from which you came? That's not rig-"

"SILENCE!" There was a long pause. "Your opinions on my mentality are not needed. Your race is flawed. They never liked me. I was left out."

"But if we are flawed, aren't you?"

"No. Because I am not one of you anymore. I'm... not.. I AM DIFFERENT!" Melody could tell she was breaking through to Ozzie. He mumbled a few things and then rubbed his temples. She could barely make out what he said.

"..but if toons are flawed and I used to be one.. am I flawed?"

Ozzie growled. "GET HER OUT OF HERE! I will be in my quarters!"

"Yes sir!" said the Rusty Judge.

Ozzie retreated back to his quarters.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" said Rachel.

A scribe opened the metal door and walked in. He motioned for them to come to the courtyard. As they walked down the hallways, everyone backed against the walls and looked at them with hopeful eyes. Some even bowed. Once they reached the courtyard, they saw Kaitlyn talking to one of the scientists, and thousands of Initiates and Knights throwing pies, blasting foghorns and tapdancing all at once. The scribe glazed his hand across the landscape of everyone training, as if presenting a new item in a TV commercial. Armen walked up to the group.

"I present to you approximately 6,225 soldiers. We have them training like mad dogs to learn the ways of these 'Gags'. They seem to be addicted to this." he said.

"They should be, it's in their genes. Having fun, throwing pies and making jokes, yeah?" said Earl.

"They're almost done training. How about we gather them in the auditorium so you can tell them how this is going to go, yes Rachel?"

"Good idea. You send out the word and I'll get everything set."

Armen nodded and walked over to a Paladin.

"You coming Kaitlyn?" asked Larry. She snapped out of watching the toons train and followed everybody inside.


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Departure**

The call for assembly was made, and the group looked sat on the stage in leather chairs behind Armen at the podium. Thousands of armor clad warriors piling into the auditorium was just amazing them.

"Can't believe this is really happening. Giving a speech for a huge army of toons from the past, to fight against an enemy from the future.." said Rachel.

"You got this, Rayray." said Earl.

"Don't ever call me that again." she said.

Earl snickered. Rachel walked up to the microphone and tapped it a few times once everybody was settled in. Every warrior looked at her with hope as she began to talk.

"You know why you've been trained. You're protecting your descendants life in the future. 30 years from now, an enemy called the 'Cogs' will appear. 5 years after that, the Sellbots created their headquarters. 5 more, the Cashbots. So on from the Lawbots, then to the Bossbots."

One of the soldiers interrupted, "So I don't get this. If we're trying to stop them then, in the future, why don't we just destroy whatever it is NOW, so we can get back to our lives and not have to worry about this in the future?"

Rachel butted in quickly. "Because it won't make any difference in the first place! If we destroy it now, they will just be created one way or another. It would just be better to stop them in the future so that they don't come back."

She paused briefly so everyone could take that in.

"When we arrive at the march point.. We will head straight into the wall, to bring it down. You are all now trained in cog fighting.. You should be able to take first wave out once we hit the city. Our main goal is to defeat the Chairman and Dark Ozzie, and to rescue another one of us who was captured." She paused.

"Excuse me, but who.. or now what, exactly is a Dark Ozzie?" said a Knight.

Rachel looked at the paladin with eyes stronger than steel. He got the message and nodded.

"Dark Ozzie... is a toon who turned against us.. and joined the cogs.

Some people in the room gasped in shock while others growled vowing for his defeat as a traitor.

"He also captured our friend, and leader, Melody. You all will serve as a large distraction while we sneak off into the city more to get some information on where Melody is..."

"Do you know what they are gonna do with her?" said a knight.

"We don't know right now.. We can only hope we get there in time."

A scientist ran up onto the stage to Rachel and whispered something to her. She nodded her head a few times. Armen looked on in concern. She walked down to him, the group got up and followed. "We have to leave now.. there were some complications with the vortex we came through, it only has 1 hour before we vanish permanently.. And since we were here for a week, we have advanced over an hour in the future.." she said quietly to Armen.

"Get your things and be outside.. we should have them rounded up and sent through shortly after." said Armen a low whsiper.

"If you want, I will accompany you into the future."

"No, its fine, really. You don't need your life on the line. You have a position as an elder of the Toon Council to fill up, anyways." she winked.

"Good luck." He smiled, while the others ran through the doors to their dorms.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**The War Begins**

As the group was hurriedly grabbing the very few belongs they had (mainly upgraded gag backpacks, and their new TMDA's thanks to the elites), a Squire came rushing through the door.

"The gap will be closing soon, are you ready?"

Everybody nodded their heads and the Squire left. Shortly after, they began running down the mass of empty hallways to get out to the courtyard. Once they were out into the courtyard, they were met by a scientist.

"Thanks to the information you have provided us, we have developed Happiness And Protection Device, or HAPDs. They will lower the extreme damage dealt by the new line of 'cogs'. We barely made enough, we just rushed this batch out of the furnaces for you guys."

A Squire came forth with a rolling rack of armour, prepared to fit the toon it was made for. "We also made another for your friend Melody. This is the only one we were able to figure out the shrinking method you use for your 'karts' so you can save it for her, in time for the departure."

The paladin gave Rachel the shrunken armour and she put it in her pocket.

"Thank you."

The scribe nodded and ran back behind the crowd. Armen came forward and started telling the group the details.

"We have grouped up the ranks in the following order. Initiates, Knights, and Tanks. The tanks are the heavily defended group which will take down the wall and take the blunt of the attacks while the Knights take out the first wave. The Initiates will be divided per squad. For every 10 Tanks there will be 3 Knights. For every 6 Knights there will be 2 initiates."

He kept running them over the squads and placements. A scribe came running up to them.

"It's time to leave. The rift will be shutting down for you seven very soon. Based on the information from the elite's devices, we have altered the co-ordinates of each member being sent out, so that they will appear in battle formations to Armen and Rachel's specifications. The mass teleport will be very quick, very precise. Should only take about 10 seconds for the teleport, 30 seconds for everybody to travel and to be there alive and well. And to the soldiers who are still alive by the time the war is won, they all have a device that can bring them back here."

"WARNING. ONE MINUTE UNTIL RIFT CLOSES."

The group rushed over to the place they were being pointed to and lined up.

"Activating teleport in 5..."

"FIFTEEN SECONDS UNTIL RIFT CLOSES."

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"TEN SECONDS."

"GO!" shouted the controller.

He and two scribes pulled the lever with might and a large red beam of light quickly scanned the ground over the entire army. Everyone shut their eyes and felt a pulling at their feet.

Within seconds they were swirled into a small individual vortex that pulled each toon that was scanned down into the ground into a hole of swirling purple, red, black, and blue colors. The group felt themselves getting thrown onto the ground and a full force pain at the heels of their feet.

"AHH... my feet.." groaned Tarren.

"Not only is it yours, it's everybody that will be coming through.. I felt it too." groaned Larry.

"They could have made the landing smoother.. being all advanced technology and stuff." said Robert, rubbing the back of his head.

Within seconds, they saw the tanks appearing in front of them and some medics and knights near them, landing with no trouble at all.

"OH COME ON! They made the landing smooth for them but not us?" groaned Kaitlyn.

"It could have been the diminishing rift that threw us off our feet. They teleported directly." replied Gabriel.

Once all of the toons had landed, the group climbed up on a tall boulder. They took in one of the biggest armies the group had ever seen. Everybody looked at Rachel and gave looks of approval.

She grabbed a foghorn out of her gag pack.

She put her lips to the foghorn and blew.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Ozzies' Fury**

Ozzie was laying on his bed thinking over what Melody had stated before he had her hauled off.

"Toons flawed.. Used to be one.. I'm.. flawed too...?"

Ozzie rubbed his temples and felt a headache coming. He sighed.

"Better stop thinking about this.."

He walked over to his refrigerator and grabbed some water.

"DARK OZZIE, SIR! Come to the control room QUICKLY! The toons are back! ...and there's more... and MORE! AND MORE! Sir, you better get down here!" shouted a Big Cheese from his radio.

Ozzie knew this didn't feel quite right and ran past every dorm, not even stopping to tell anybody. He burst through the control room doors and spun over to where the Big Cheese that had called him was sitting. It only took a second of seeing the screen before him before he shouted.

"OH GREAT APOCRYPHALIS! THEY HAVE AN ARMY!"

"Alert the Chairman, VP, CEO, CFO, and Chief Justice NOW! GET BACKUP ON THE WALLS! SEND OUT HELIGEARS! GET RID OF THEM NOW!" he screamed, his face red as fire and his fists nearly compressed enough to cause another big bang.

There was barely any audio but he could hear it. The sound of a foghorn. He closed his eyes. A loud bang was all it took for his eyes to open with the fire of a million suns burning the final bits of his happiness to a crisp.

It only took seconds after Rachel blew the foghorn commencing the attack for chaos to erupt as fast as a supervolcano. There was a massive hole in the outer wall into the ghettoes of the city, in which hundreds of toon warriors flooded and began engaging with the enhabitants of the city. At the exact center of the massive, circular city was a massive building towering upwards atleast 200 stories. The Central Control Station.

Larry climbed up onto the rock on which Rachel was standing and observed the war around them with her.

"It won't take long for the Cogs' advanced technology to be deployed. You'll be the first target, standing on this rock and all. We should get moving with the rest of the group." he said.

Rachel nodded and climbed down with Larry. Kaitlyn, Robert, Tarren, Gabriel and Earl were waiting for their orders.

"Here's the plan guys. We're going to sneak in through the wall and find a sewer system or a-"

"HOLD ON, did you just say SEWERS? NO WAY! GROSSNESS!" exclaimed Kaitlyn.

"WOULD YOU JUST DEAL WITH IT FOR NOW? We're trying to save Toontown. That's WAY more important than your hygene. As I was saying, find a sewer system or ventilation system to sneak into the core of the city with. We'll find our exit, *hopefully* into the Central Control Building, and not out into the middle of a street or any other building. If any cogs are in our way, and they shouldn't be, we'll get rid of them and proceed on. Sound good?" said Rachel.

Aside for Kaitlyn sticking her tounge out because of the sewers idea, everybody nodded in approval.

"Then lets' move out! No time to lose!"

Ozzie stormed into the holding cell where Melody was, right before her trial.

"Your friends are back.. WITH THOUSANDS MORE." raged Ozzie, face red.

"WHAT? I had NO idea.. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?" she remarked, suprised.

Ozzie started pacing back and forth in front of her cell.

"Data logs say they teleported. But not with conventional means, say, the toons' teleport holes."

"YOU ARE A TOON, OZZIE."

"SHUT UP!" he screamed. "THE LOGS SAY, that they used a method of time travel. Along with the other thousands of toons aiding them."

"Time travel...? So.. they went back in time, assembled an army, and came back?"

"That's how it appears in the data, yes. It is INDEED astonishing in its' own.. It's too bad, though.."

"Too bad..? OZZIE! What are you going to do?"

"Let's put it simply. I demanded the creation of a device that will KILL you little toons. Instead of just making them sad and sending them off to your little 'playgrounds' at the mainland. And it's on each new cog processed. The 4 new ones you saw, and all the others." said Ozzie, deviously.

"NO! OZZIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"TAKING REVENGE, MY DEAR. The Cogs have a decent plan for life. If you toons had actually ACCEPTED their wonderful offer before you all declared war on the Cogs, NONE of this would be happening now, and Toontown would be peaceful! NOW LOOK where all this has gotten you toons!"

"OZZIE, PLEASE, THINK ABOUT THIS!" begged Melody.

"I have though long and hard, my dear."

At that time, Ozzies hand began to glow, and Melody suddenly could not control herself.

"NO!.. What.. are you.. DOING?" grunted Melody.

"A little trick that the Cogs gave me." said Ozzie.

With a snap of his glowing fingers, Melody entered darkness.

"Do what you need to do, gentlemen."


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Infiltration**

The group made their way through the war. Cogs flying in from the air to attack the soldiers, ground battles already in progress, and suppliers giving out gags to the soldiers.

"OVER HERE!" shouted a toon voice.

The group looked and saw a Knight running to them.

"I'm guessing you guys need a way into that central building?" asked the Knight.

"Yeah, you found one?" asked Rachel.

Kaitlyn stuck her tounge out in disgust and Earl chortled.

"We secured a sewer duct a couple blocks over. There are some knights that have briefly scouted the sewers and they're clear from harm. They even lead into the second level of the city." said the Knight.

Rachel nodded and they followed the knight 2 blocks over to the secured sewer manhole.

"Would you like an escort to the middle wall?" asked a battle-worn Tank.

"That would be nice. We don't know this place." said Rachel.

The Tank, a few knights and the group descended into the sewers of oil and stray metal parts. As they began walking in the maze of pipelines, a small robotic rat emerged out of a large gap in the wall.

"GAAAH!" shreiked Kaitlyn as she jumped onto Robert.

Robert and Rachel groaned as the Tank kicked the rat into the wall and destroyed it.

"Sorry about that. There are a few of those around here. We detected that no gags work against them and that brute force is the only way of destroying them. They can lower your laff, too." said a Knight

"Thanks for the heads up." sighed Gabriel.

As they made their way through the sewer ducts and puddles of oil and destroying many Cograts, they finally made it to the large metal bars blocking access to the next level of the city's sewers.

"Greaaat." groaned Larry.

"Not to worry, friends. We've discovered a more practical use for the TNT gag." said the Tank.

"It's best if you guys back up around the corner." said a Knight.

The team quickly shuffled around the corner and just as everybody was behind it, there was a loud BANG.

"Whew, that was easy."

But just as they looked around the corner, the bars were still there. And then there was an announcement message across the soldiers' radio.

"ATTENTION ALL UNITS: Next level of city wall has been breached! Diverge to the breach and keep pushing!"

Everybody looked at each other and chuckled. They went back around the corner and then the TNT detonated the hole in the bars.

"The citys' middle level sewers aren't as deserted as this.. There are Yellow and Orange goons roaming around. Are you all prepared?"

The group nodded and proceeded on into the depths of Cog Nation.

Ozzie left Melody's cell and slammed the door. Walking down the hallway, his excitement grew as he was ready to take revenge on the toons. But then, there was a radio broadcast.

"ATTENTION ALL COGS: THE TOONS HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE NEXT LEVEL OF THE CITYS' WALLS. ETA TO NEXT LEVEL'S BREAKTHROUGH IS ONE HOUR."

Ozzie cursed under his breath, and took the radio of the Glad Handler passing by him and smashed it. The Cog looked at him in curiosity.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" Ozzie screamed.

Ozzie finally exited the Central Control Building in the heart of the city. Being on the tallest hill of the city's levels, he could see the war going on in front of him through the parting between different business buildings and up and down the streets.

"Get me an armored vehicle!" Ozzie said into his radio.

Within minutes, an armored car approached.

"Get out, driver. This one's just for me." he said.

The Car-driving Cog got out as Ozzie took the drivers seat, and drove out of the courtyard of the Central Control Building. As Ozzie drove down the road to the gate that separated the middle and upper level of the city, his hand started charging with an orange light. Ozzie got out of the car, right in front of the gate. The operator opened it barely enough for Ozzie to pass through, as the army had not gotten that far up the middle of the city yet. As the army gradually approached, Ozzy just stood there. When they got close enough, they didn't attack him, only the oncoming cogs around them.

"Silly, confused little toons.." he mumbled.

His hands suddenly started glowing with great light, and he made a swipe motion across the first row of soldiers in front of him. They all were swiped to one side and crashed against the walls of the nearest building, or against other soldiers. Then the others in the next row started attacking him, now recognizing him as an enemy.. and a powerful one at that. He started to create a forcefield with his hands, that blocked all the pies and seltzer bottles. He laughed maniaccly, and began going crazy with the swiping motions, tearing a path through the army of soldiers. He was a one tooncog killing machine.

They were in the middle level of the city, in the sewers. Cog goons scarcely patrolled this level of the city sewer. They could not hear, only see and alert. If seen, they could be at an entire loss.

Everybody stopped when a sudden radio notice to all soldiers suddenly came up.

"ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS: Whoever said that the toons go sad when they get hurt enough, and we can heal them, they don't! They DIE! Something is really REALLY wrong here! There's also this black rabbit on the middle level right infront of the gates to the top level tearing holes in our army lines! He's wiping out entire lines of soldiers at once! We real-"

The radio transmission was suddenly cut off, and a muffled explosion followed.

"ATTENTION: Uhh, the radio broadcasting base is destroyed. We're now using the backup base.."

Everybody looked at each other with a grim face.

"So.. who's this black rabbit that can 'wipe out whole lines of the army at once'?" asked Tarren.

"His name's Dark Ozzie. Not much is known about him, other than the fact that he was once a toon that later sided with the Cogs and worked his way up to the position right under the Chairman.. Nobody really knows, but some say he's more powerful than the Chairman." said Rachel.

"Woah.." said Kaitlyn. "That's evil.."

Gabriel nodded. But then, an orange goon turned the corner and hit the Tank. He withstood the damage and disabled the goon. But it was too late.

They were spotted.


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Discovered**

A voice came over Ozzies' radio.

"Ozzie, sir! A group of 12 toons were spotted in the middle level sewers!"

He instantly stopped hacking and slashing his hands in the air at the army of toons relentlessly trying to break his forcefield, and went back to the gate, which opened barely enough for him to get in, for a fraction of a second. It slammed behind him, and then the soldiers outside began attacking the gate, which withstood their attacks with ease. Ozzie picked his radio from his belt.

"Did a goon spot the toons in the sewers?" he asked the operator.

"Yes sir, 1 large, armor-clad toon, 4 smaller armored toons, and 7 wearing very light armor." replied the operator.

"Can you send me a video of the detection?"

In a few seconds, a video was sent to a device in Ozzie's pocket. It showed the video of the group getting caught. He paused the video.

"Can you send me a side by side video from when the group of 8 toons were spotted outside the city earlier today with this one?"

In a few more seconds, a video appeared to the side of the goon's tape. It showed the group's encounter with the new cogs. He paused the video and began comparing the toons.

After a minute, he realised that they matched. His eyes grew wide, and his face turned red.

"SEND 5 UNITS OF NEW COGS DOWN INTO THE SEWERS TO AID ME!" he screamed into the radio.

"YES SIR!"

"QUICK, it's only a matter of time before they get here! We need to find a way out into a building or into somewhere else!" said Earl.

The group frantically went around an area of the sewers looking for an exit into a building, the street, or anywhere else. It was only a matter of time until the sewers were a death trap.

"I FOUND SOMETHING! It's an air vent to a Lawbot building's basement above here! The vent can fit us!" shouted Robert.

"Well, do you need us from here on? I fear that the air duct may not fit us in our larger armors." asked a Knight to Rachel.

Rachel thought for a moment.

"Your assistance has been very helpful, sir. But I must now dismiss you. This is a battle only we can finish from here on."

The knights and tank nodded and began running back the way they came, through the sewer to the lower level of the city.

"Alright Rob, where was that air duct?" asked Larry.

"Right over here."

Robert pointed over to the duct in the side of the wall ahead of them and around the corner. It had a ladder inside it. Everybody was accounted for..

"Wait, where's Earl?" said Rachel, frantically.

And then they heard it.

"RUSTYYY JUDDGEEEEE!" screamed Earl's voice.

"I'LL GO HELP HIM! YOU GO WITHOUT US FOR NOW!" screamed Gabriel to the group, and then ran off.

"GABRIEL, WAIT!" shouted Rachel. But he was gone, off to help Earl.

"We can't wait for them! We'll be caught! We have to go, quick!" said Larry, pulling Rachel toward the ladder.

They entered the Lawbot building's empty basement.

"And then there were 5." sighed Rachel.

"Don't worry. They'll be back. They're not elites, like you for no reason, you know." said Tarren.

Rachel shrugged and flopped down next to the air vent. After a while, Larry returned from a look around the large basement.

"Okay, good news. Turns out this is the central Lawbot building. It has a way to the Central Control building through a conveyer delivery system. We can hide in a few crates marked as mail straight for there and get out when we get there."

"Great find. But what about Gabriel and Earl?" Rachel asked nervously.

Just then, Gabriel emerged out from the air vent, beaten and hurt.

"Oh my gods, Gabe! What happened?!" cried Rachel.

"Dark.. Ozzie.." he coughed.

"And Earl?!" asked Kaitlyn.

Gabriel looked down grimly at the floor.

"Oh no.. please.. no!" she cried.

"I.. tried.." Gabriel coughed up dust.

"That's all that matters right now.. is Ozzie on his way?" asked Rachel.

Gabriel nodded his head. Rachel pulled out some pixie dust and used it on him.

"That helps.. I lost him for a little bit.. If it wasn't for these HAPD's, I wouldn't be here right now.. let's get out of here.."

Rachel looked around, and then looked to Larry.

"Can you carry him to a crate?"

Larry nodded, and picked Gabriel up and carried him to a crate marked for 'Central Control Mail Dpt.' There were many other crates marked that, and everybody got in one. Robert quickly turned on the conveyer and got in his own crate.

Dark Ozzie descended into the sewers.

"Spread out. If you find one, DESTROY them." he commanded. "Rusty Judge, I'll follow you."

The Cogs' gears clicked with understanding and they began to patrol. He stayed behind from the Judge a little bit. And it wasn't long before Ozzie began hearing words being spoken from person to person. And then;

"RUSTYYY JUDDGEEEEE!"

Ozzie's brain instantly responded to the call by running to where the Judge he was following was. And there Earl was, about to face off against one of the most powerful cogs created.

"I'LL GO HELP HIM! YOU GO WITHOUT US FOR NOW!"

Ozzie knew he didn't have much time. His hands started glowing. He grabbed Earl.

"Agh! .. Who.. are you..?" Earl could barely cough out the words because Ozzie's telekinetic grab was so strong.

It was when Gabriel snuck around the corner when Ozzie said to Earl;

"Your worst nightmare. Your last nightmare."

It was then that Earl exploded in smoke and flame. Vaporized. Gabriel got hit by some stone chips that came off of the wall during the explosion. Ozzie noticed him, but had to recover from using such an intense amount of power. Gabriel struggled to the vent and ascended to the Lawbot building.

"I'm discovered.." thought Ozzie.

"It's time to use Melody as the bait for this hook, line, and sinker."

His laugh pierced the fumes from the explosion.


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Cog Power**

Ozzie climbed out of the sewers into the top level of the city. Just then, a message came over his radio.

"Sir, there's an estimated 30 minutes until they breach the wall!"

"DO YOUR BEST TO STOP IT THEN!" he responded back, in pure anger.

He knew he didn't have long until the remaning 6 members of the group found a way to access the Central Control Building, so he knew he had to act fast. He quickly proceeded through the empty lobby of the building's ground floor onto the VIP elevator, pushing the button to the Courtroom Cells. When he arrived, he was greeted by Big Wigs. He walked into the room with the holding cell. And there sat Melody. Slumped over and obviously given up trying, after Ozzie's last display of power.

"What do you want, Ozzie." she stated flatly.

"You. You're going to lure your own friends here so I can finish them, as they are very good at evading me." he chortled.

"YOU WANT ME TO HELP KILL MY OWN FRIENDS!?" she snarled.

"Oh, kill is such a _harsh_ word. YES, I want you to be the bait so I can kill them, what else?" he sneered mockingly.

"Then you'll have to kill me first. I'd never do that to my friends."

"Are you sure? I was just getting tired of doing the work ALLL by myself. I don't want to have to take other measures.."

"I will NOT help you."

"Well, if you REALLY won't, I have just the little something.."

Ozzie opened the door to the cell room and in walked another Melody. But it wasn't really her, it was a super-advanced Cog design that replicated Melody flawlessly. Ozzie laughed evilly as they entered.

"WHAT THE!?" said the real Melody.

"Yes, she's quite something, isn't she? When I knocked you out, I had the science team come in and take the needed measurements and designs and such to create her. I only did it because I know your strong will would never help me. Not the me now, at least." said Ozzie.

"When I get out of here, I swear I'm going t-"

"YOU'RE not getting out of this place. EVER." chortled the robot twin in Melody's voice.

"You metal BITCH!" screamed Melody.

"Eck, harsh words, my dear, very harsh! I think you need a time out! GUARD! Take her to the courtroom cells! You've got a court date, my dear."

"YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS! NOT WHILE I STILL LAUGH!" screamed Melody as she was dragged away.

"Hmmph. Now, all you need to do is stay in the cells and wait for her friends. When they arrive, alert me, and hold them off until I get here, so I can deal with them. Personally. I'm going to start the invasion before they defeat us." said Ozzie.

Robo-Melody's gears clicked with understanding.

"This plan is falling together flawlessly.." he thought.

The group sat alone in their boxes. The only sounds were the conveyer moving and their breathing. They had been riding for about 5 minutes already. Then, the conveyer came to a sudden stop. Rachel peeked her head out from the top of her box. They were on the still conveyer in a large room with tons of boxes, and an elevator to take them to other floors.

"Pssst! It's all clear!" whispered Rachel.

"Finally. Thought I was going to suffocate in there." said Robert.

"We need to make it through the room and to the elevator, and then find Mel."

"Good plan, but how do we find her?"

Rachel shrugged, and climbed out of the box. The room was HUGE.

"This is definately a mail department.." said Tarren in awe.

As they made their way through the maze of boxes, gag barrels and disabling the occassional goon, they finally reached the elevator.

"Geez, this thing could hold, like, 24 toons!" exclaimed Larry.

"Well, it's a freight elevator for COGS.. What do you think?" replied Robert.

They boarded and hit the button to the lobby, as that was the only option.

"Prepare your gags, friends." said Gabriel.

It took about a minute for them to arrive on the lobby floor. As the doors opened, the lobby was empty.

"Anybody think this seems familiar?" said Kaitlyn.

Larry just facepalmed while everybody else looked around.

"Hey guys, I found the VIP elevator!" said Tarren.

They all went to the east side of the lobby, and entered the elevator. The doors closed. It had 8 special locations on one panel, and the rest of the floors on another. The special floors were:

B2) Reactor, B1) Mail Room, 1) Lobby, 2) Courtroom, 3) Courtroom Cells, 4) Executive Offices, 5) Control Center, 6) Roof & Landing Pad.

"Woah woah woah woah WOAH. Reactor!? What is that?" Rachel exclaimed.

"I think that might be the energy generator for the cogs and this entire city.. And maybe everything they do.. But I also feel that it has some other purpose to it.. Because during my encounter with Dark Ozzie, he was able to use telekinesis. His hands glowed a furious shade of orange. It looked like fire.. and then.. he vaporized Earl.." said Gabriel.

Everybody gasped at Gabriel's story about the loss of Earl. But after a couple seconds, it all started to hit in everybody's minds, that, maybe, the reactor was the first step to defeat the Cogs.

"Should we really try to destroy their reactor before we get Melody?" asked Kaitlyn.

"I'm not sure either. If we get Melody first, they would be on high alert, and getting to the Reactor would be nearly impossible if they've got all the new cogs guarding the place. But if we destroy the reactor first, their power would be lowered, and maybe everything would be easier when we get Mel. I'm leaving it up to you guys, though. I'm not in the fittest of positions right now." said Gabriel.

"I think destroying the reactor first sounds best." said Robert.

Everybody agreed that the strategics were best.

"So it is, the Reactor goes down first." said Larry.

He pushed the button and they began descending into the depths of the Central Control Building. Once they reached the reactor floor, they entered a control room, and were greeted by a few of the lower level cog types, which they took out easily.

"Think that raised any alarms?" asked Tarren.

"Nah, too swift and efficient." said Rachel.

"Look around for something that could make the reactor destruct, turn off, or do something that would help us and harm them." said Gabriel.

"But.. where's the reactor, anyways?" asked Larry.

Just then, one of them hit a button that opened the window screens over the control panels. It slid back to reveal a large floor area with a large glowing orange ball in the middle, supported by a metal rod, with cords, tubes, wires and more connected to the core, all around it.

"Uhhh. I think we just found it."

"So how do we destroy it? I don't see any magical turn-off switches or anything like that." said Larry.

"Well, I don't think we destroy it like that." said Gabriel.

"What's your idea, smartypants?"

Gabriel looked with a grin at Larry.

"THIS is my idea."

He held up a bushel of TNT and pulled an unlit match from his pocket.

"Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure that's not even CLOSE to being safe." said Kaitlyn.

"But it's our only shot. Get the elevator ready while I extend the fuse." said Gabriel

But it was too late. A lone radio from one of the cogs they defeated when the entered the reactor's control room started speaking.

"ALERT TO ALL COGS: INVASION PLANS GO."

Everybody's eyes widened. They were too late.

"GABE, HURRY, BEFORE THEY CAN LEAVE THE CITY!" shouted Kaitlyn with urgency.

Gabe quickly pulled some thick threads off of an exploded cogs suit and used that for a fuse. He entered the reactor room. It made a light humming noise. He was able to toss the TNT over a tube and onto a small ledge above the reactor, where it would cause the most damage. He quickly unrolled the fuse out of the reactor room and right by the elevator.

"Everybody ready?" he asked.

They all nodded without hesitation. He lit the match and got in the elevator.


	18. Chapter 16, Part 1

**Chapter 16, Part 1**

**Meltdown**

Ozzie entered the control room and sat down at his reserved seat. A large control board with gauges, screens, buttons and switches sat in front of him. The main highlight of that entire board was the covered, big, red button.

"This is the moment we have been waiting for, gentlemen." he said to the completely quiet control room, looking at him.

"This is the moment we finally defeat the toons."

The cogs in the control room started cheering and celebrating in their robotic voices. Ozzie pushed the button. An alarm sounded across the city, and a robotic voice over the Cogs' radios told them that the invasion was a go.

The large rooftop doors of the factories all across the city opened. The cogs woke up and began to fly out of the doors. In seconds, the only thing you could see across Cog Nation from the tower were thousands and thousands of cogs flying from the manufacturing plants and the new Heligears flying from the airbase, straight to Toontown.

Ozzie looked out across the landscape in pride at what he had created.

But then, the explosion from the reactor blew out all the windows in the upper level of the city and cracked some in the middle level. Dark Ozzie was knocked from his feet and the cogs sitting in their office chairs were knocked over. Lights went out, and backup power across the city came on. Windows all across the building were completely shattered or just badly damaged.

"DARK OZZIE, SIR! THE REACTOR CORE JUST HEAVILY DESTABILIZED!" shouted a Flunky from across the room.

As Ozzie got up, he turned into a ball of pure, unkept, unleashed anger. His face went red, and his fists clenched up impossibly tight.

"CAN IT BE REPAIRED!?" he screamed.

"No, sir, it's too damaged! The core doesn't have long before it melts down!"

Ozzie just couldn't stand it anymore. He unleashed.

"YOU'RE ALL FIRED! FIRED! FIRED!" he screamed, point at each cog in the room.

Instantly, cannons rose up and fired each of them into oblivion. But Ozzie looked down at his hands. What normally happens when he gets angry is that his hands glow with power. But this time, they weren't. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't activate the power.

"NO!"

The group reached the lobby floor, and just as they looked out the front windows to see thousands of cogs flying straight towards their home, the explosion struck. They were all knocked off their feet, and the backup power came on.

"Jackpot, baby." said Gabriel.

"Are you forgetting that Ozzie already called the invasion in?" sneered Rachel.

"No, I'm not. But there's a much more worth it side-effect of destroying the reactor." he said.

"Well what is it, Mr. Knowitall?" said Tarren.

Gabriel explained to them that they didn't really destroy the reactor - not yet, anyways - that they just caused it to destabilize beyond repair, and that the city didn't have long before the entire reactor core exploded and wiped out the Cog Nation.

Everybody calmed down, but looked at Gabriel as if they had a million questions.

"How long does the city have?" asked Larry.

"Not long, 30 minutes, an hour at most." he replied.

"Then we MUST find Melody before it's too late!" said Robert.

The others nodded and quickly ran back to the VIP elevator. The lights were dim.

"I'm surprised this thing even works on backup power.." said Kaitlyn.

They pressed the button to go to the Courtroom Cells.


	19. Chapter 16, Part 2

**Chapter 16, Part 2**

**Showdown**

Melody sat in the court's holding cell with a lone Bottom Feeder guarding her, as she's trying to comprehend what just happened with the explosion. She sighed and pulled her empty gag pack from her back out of boredom.

But it wasn't empty.

There sat a partially crushed cupcake at the bottom of the pack. She never remembered packing one in the first place. "This is it," she thought, "my chance to finally escape.."

"Hey boltbucket, what level are ya?" she asked the Bottom Feeder.

The cog turned around.

"Level 1, and Dark Ozzie said you're n-"

His words were stopped as Melody shoved the cupcake in his face and grabbed the key off of his belt. He began to whirr and churn. She dove for the corner and the cog exploded. She licked the icing off of her glove.

"Mmmm.. Strawberry."

She started to fiddle with the key and unlocked the door.

"What do you think YOU'RE doing?" said the Robo-Melody voice that came from the shadows.

"YOU.." she growled.

But then, they heard the elevator ding and the doors open.

"HEY MELO- WAIT WHAT THE HECK?" shouted Larry.

"HELLO everyone and welcome to Find the Evil Twin!" joked Robert.

"SHUT UP!" shouted Rachel.

"That's a cog in a toon disguise! I'm the REAL Melody!" a Melody said.

"NO! Don't believe her! I'm the real Melody!" said the other one.

Tarren just sighed.

"This just seems like something out of a bad mystery movie.." he groaned.

"Why not just throw a pie at each of them to prove who's the real one? It's that simple.." Kaitlyn suggested.

Rachel raised an eyebrow, and faster than you could say absolutely nothing, she pulled out 2 Cream Pies and threw one at each of them.

The real Melody wiped the pie from her eyes and began chuckling. But the Robo-Melody started sputtering. Melody's eyes widened and she dove towards her friends just as the cog twin exploded.

"Good to see YOU, Mel." said Gabriel.

"Yeah, really. A friendly face for once."

"AND HERE'S ANOTHER FACE." said a voice.

The group turned around in shock just as Rachel was thrown back by a cogs attack.

Dark Ozzie and the 4 new cogs walked out of the elevator.

"YOU!" everybody said at once.

"Yes, yes, ME. Wonderful old me. Do you know HOW LONG it's taken me to work for this? HOW MUCH time?"

"Just give up already. The city is coming down. You're done for, Ozzie." said Melody.

"If the city goes down.. YOU GO DOWN WITH IT!" he shouted, as he motioned the 4 cogs to attack.

Larry and Robert pulled out wedding cakes and the 4 cogs took direct hits. Lights on yellow. Gabriel laid down train tracks and Tarren pulled out a presentation. Direct hit. Ozzie knew the cogs were going to be defeated. He dashed for the elevator.

"SEE YOU NEVER!" he said as the doors closed.

"NO!" shouted Rachel, running for the doors.

But it was too late. Ozzie got away. The new models exploded just as Rachel turned towards the fighting and slumped down on the doors.

Larry wiped his brow and sat next to Rachel.

"He's gone, Rachel.. There's nothing we can do now except save ourselves."

Just then, there was a quiet bang. They looked out the window and saw that the army had breached the upper level walls. She sighed.

"I'll tell the army that we've kinda lost, and to withdraw to their own time before the reactor goes out." she said.


	20. Chapter 16, Part 3

**Chapter 16, Part 3**

**The Escape from Cog Nation**

"ATTENTION: We've got a radio broadcast coming in from one of the army commanders!"

"Toons, we thank you so much for your dilligent fighting and brute force.. but the invasion was deployed, and that large explosion you felt was the group here destabilizing a reactor the cogs use for their power. That reactor will wipe out this city and a portion of the surrounding area when it explodes within 30 minutes. Please, save yourselves and return to your own time. Thank you. Over and out."

Rachel sighed as she put down the radio. Gabriel put his hand on her shoulder.

"You did what you had to do.. now we need to get out of here and get home to help defend.." he said.

She nodded and stood up.

"So how exactly are we going to get out of here?" asked Larry.

Melody's eyes lit up instantly.

"We can fly out of here on a Heligear!" she said.

"But none of us know how to fly one of those things!" said Kaitlyn.

"None of us do, but I'm pretty sure that it knows how to fly itself."

"Are you suggesting that it has an auto-pilot?" asked Tarren.

"Bingo. And we can set it for home." said Melody.

Everybody suddenly seemed happier.

"That's an amazing idea! Come on, let's get to the roof before this place co-"

And just then, Rachel was cut off as the entire building shook as if an earthquake struck. It stopped for a moment, then started again. And then stopped.

"What was that!?" she cried.

"Probably the building about to come down. Come on! We don't have much time!" said Melody, pushing the button on the elevator.

Ozzie looked off of the top of the Central Control Building. Even though the group called off the fight in order to escape and the largest majority of the soldiers had returned to their own time, there were still some fighting on their own, or in very small groups. Even though they looked like ants, Ozzie could tell. He was used to seeing things like this.

"Sir, I'm afraid we really don't have much time until the city is destroyed."

He turned around and walked over to the large landing zone, where there were still some Heligears sitting there, but one was waiting for him. A Mr. Hollywood was standing patiently by the door to the large air vehicle.

"Yes... quite right." he said, still daydreamy.

The elevator dinged to the roof and landing pad and the group emerged. Melody looked around the corner of the door that went out to the roof and quickly reeled her head back.

"SSSSHHH. Ozzie is out there." she whispered.

She put her ear past the corner and listened.

_"Yes... quite right."_

"Where would you like to go, sir?"

The building shook violently again.

"Take me.. to the **Anchorage Bay Facility**." said Ozzie, calmly.

"Sir.. are you sure?" questioned the Mr. Hollywood.

"I didn't stutter, did I?" he said, flatly.

The Mr. Hollywood nodded and they boarded the Heligear.

"Well, what did they say, Mel?" asked Rachel.

Melody looked at her friends.

"He wanted to go to this place called the Anchorage Bay Facility."

Everybody except Rachel and Gabriel questioned that statement in their heads.

"What's that..?" asked Larry.

"Not a great place.. but somewhere we're gonna have to go if we really want to stop Ozzie for good.." said Rachel.

"What's so bad about it?" asked Kaitlyn.

"Uhh.. ehh.." stuttered Gabriel.

"Uhhhh, how about we just tell you later?" Rachel said.

Just as Ozzie's Heligear took off, the building shook much more violently.

"No time to say no to anything. We HAVE to go!" said Melody.

They quickly got in an abandoned Heligear on the side of the landing pad, and programmed in the command to follow Ozzie's Heligear from a far distance. Within seconds, the Heligear lifted up off of the ground and began flying in the direction which Ozzie flew.

"Here we are.. finally leaving that place." said Robert.

As they flew over the outer walls of the city, a loud noise like a dial tone on a phone rang out from the Central Control Building, and hundreds of other Heligears began flying from the building and landing pads all over the city.

"What's that?" asked Kaitlyn, the sound still going.

"Probably the warning sound for the fireworks about to happen.." cautioned Gabriel. And within 30 seconds, it did.

They were about 2 miles out, and the blast was initially so bright that they couldn't really see much, but within a few seconds, they could see again. What they saw was something like no other. So much destruction at once. The Heligears that just escaped the city were blown by the shockwave. Some hit the ground and exploded, some of the others regained their balance and continued to fly.

The tower began slowly collapsing at the bottom, the closest to the blinding white and blue light (coming from what was the reactor core) while being torn to shreds from the bottom up. The buildings and walls turned into dust within seconds, being blown out from the large hill on which the Central Control Building once sat. It was done within 30 seconds at most, and the shockwave shook their Heligear in about 15.

The entire group leaned back into their seats and rubbed their eyes. Once they could see, they all embraced each other in a group hug.

"So.. where and WHAT is this **Anchorage Bay Facility**?" asked Melody.

**END OF BOOK 1**


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